If you are like us, then you also can’t get enough books about World War 2. There have been thousands of books about the war and some have come to define the war since then. That is why we decided to list the best World War 2 books of all time.
Making a list of the best World War 2 books published. There are hundreds and this is a subgenre that is always expanding. Many readers were not alive when World War 2 happened and experience it by reading or watching movies and tv shows. You can see the full list below.
The Best World War 2 Books of All Time
- Pearl Harbor by Henry C. Clausen, Bruce Lee
- Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
- Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
- Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts, Baron Robert
- Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
- The Nightingale Kristin Hannah
- Our Mothers’ War by Emily Yellin
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
- Umbrae by Debbie Manber Kupfer
- Loot by Aaron Elkins
- Khaki Town by Judy Nunn
- The Strategic Air Offensive against Germany 1939-1945 by Noble Frankland, Sir Charles Webster
- Those Angry Days by Lynne Olson
Classics That Have Defined the Genre
The list includes some of the best books about World War 2. There are classics such as Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts and Baron Robert. Some of these are favorites of mine such as The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.
Conclusion
That is all for our list of the best World War 2 books of all time. What books should have been included on the list? Let us know in the comments below!
The greatest of all WW2 novels, by a long shot, as Vassily Grossman’s 850-page masterpiece, Life and Fate.
Don’t forget Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War!
The Caine Mutiny won the Pulitzer prize and is my #1 of all books and time
Jeff Shaara and his trilogy on the war in Europe plus his two volumes on the war in the Pacific.
“Crusade in Europe” by Dwight Eisenhower
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer and The Thin Red Line by James Jones.
????? The fifth on this list, by Elizabeth Moon, is science fiction and in no way related to WW2
The painted bird.
Fateful choices – Ten decisions that changed the world, 1940-1941
The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan
The Chestnut Grove by Anilio Conti
Help please ! One of the best books in this genre was one that echoed General Sutherland’s career as aide de camp to Macarthur during the Pacific campaign – fictionalised, with his affair with a nurse the centrepiece. Cannot find it to re-read as have now forgotten title and author ( think this is not an unknown writer, though ).
Anyone know this book ?
What about the phantom major by Virginia Cowles there is a lot more books you have missed out like Home run, books on D Day and the SOE what about Arnhem and the LRDG I could go on
Its unbelievable that these acclaimed classics have been omitted:
“No moon tonight” – Don Charlwood,
“Lancaster target” – Jack Currie
“I flew for the Fuhrer” – Heinz Knocke
“The jungle is neutral” F Spencer-Chapman
“Living dangerously” – F Spencer Chapman
“The road past Mandalay” – Jack Masters
“Ill met by moonlight” – W Moss
“Unbroken” – Alistair Mars
“The Cruel Sea” – Nicholas Monsarrat
“Destroyer Captain” – Roger Hill
I cannot believe that the awful Nightingale is mentioned in the same list that mentions Anne Frank’s diary! It is nothing better than a tear jerker written for American audiences who know nothing about France during WW2. It also contains loads of inconstencies where the author gets muddled up in her own story. It makes a mockery of Ftance during the occupation as there is so much wrong with it! It was translated into French and as many of us know the history of our country during this period, it was pulled apart. If you want a good accurate novel of France and the Resistance during WW2, don’t read this one!
My favorite WW2 book is Escape from Colditz by P.R. Reid.
Suite Franchise. By
It’s Suite Française!!! Author Irène Nemirovski.
‘The Forgotten Soldier’, by Guy Sajer, and ‘A Bridge Too Far’, by Cornelius Ryan come to mind.
The Longest Day – Cornelius Ryan
American Ceasar – William Manchester
Easy Company Soldier – Sgt. Don Malarkey
The last stand of the tin can sailors
I’ve read ‘The English Patient,’ which was pretty amazing, also loved ‘Atonement’